Strong innovation, building a professional, humane and modern press

On November 21, in Lam Dong, the Vietnam Journalists Association held a conference on "Improving the quality and effectiveness of supporting press activities and the Association's work in the context of mergers and consolidation" with the participation of delegates from central agencies, leaders of the Association and the Office of the Vietnam Journalists Association, leaders of Lam Dong province, and leaders of press agencies.

Leaders of Lam Dong Provincial Party Committee - People's Council - People's Committee congratulated the conference. Photo: TS

In his opening speech, comrade Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, and President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, emphasized that the Conference took place at a time when the whole country was overcoming the consequences of floods and preparing to summarize the Resolution of the 13th National Congress, towards the 14th National Party Congress.

In recent days, the historic flood in the Central Highlands has left behind heavy damage, but also highlighted the image of journalists on the front lines at the flood's epicenter.

Nhan Dan Newspaper donated 10 gratitude houses to Lam Dong province. Photo: TS

The spirit of mutual love of the Association at all levels and the press team nationwide has contributed to sharing the difficulties with people in disaster areas. The Association's President praised the golden hearts and dedication of journalists in the past time.

Delegates attending the conference. Photo: TS

Leaders of press agencies attending the conference. Photo: TS

Regarding “Improving the quality and effectiveness of supporting press activities and the Association’s work in the context of mergers and consolidation”, Chairman of the Vietnam Journalists Association Le Quoc Minh emphasized the requirement for the Vietnam Journalists Association system in the current period is to “Continue to strongly innovate, improve organizational capacity, be flexible in operating methods and persistently maintain a core role in building a professional, humane and modern press”.

Difficulties when merging and consolidating

According to comrade Le Quoc Minh, this Conference is not just a simple professional meeting but an opportunity to clearly see the major movements taking place in the entire system, thereby proposing "synchronous - substantial - feasible" solutions for the new journey.

Comrade Le Quoc Minh, member of the Party Central Committee, Editor-in-Chief of Nhan Dan Newspaper, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda and Education Commission, President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, spoke. Photo: TS

In their speeches at the conference, delegates all agreed that the merger and consolidation of administrative units and public service organizations, which is being implemented nationwide, has a direct impact on the organization and operation of the Journalists Association at all levels. This is a correct policy, consistent with the trend of streamlining the apparatus, but the implementation process poses many new challenges, requiring each level of the Association to adapt more quickly and proactively.

One of the first difficulties is the change in governance model and management method. When two or more Associations merge, the regulations, procedures, operating methods and working methods which are inherently different are forced to be unified in a short time. This sometimes leads to confusion, especially in places where the association's staff is small or lacks experience in managing large associations.

Lam Dong provincial leaders speak. Photo: TS

Mr. Truong Quoc Khanh, Chairman of Lam Dong Journalists Association, frankly shared: "After the merger, we had to face a series of problems: the personnel structure changed, the operating process was no longer the same as before, the number of members increased but the support resources remained almost the same. To maintain stable operations, we had to review all regulations, reassign tasks and organize internal training. It was a process that took a lot of time and effort, but it was necessary to stabilize the organization and create a foundation for long-term development."

The next difficulty comes from geographical dispersion and physical conditions. When Associations are merged from many different localities or units, the arrangement of headquarters, workplaces, archives, and equipment for common activities must all be reconsidered. Many places have to combine headquarters, move files and documents, and even completely change the working space - which greatly affects the psychology of association officials.

Representative of Voice of Vietnam Radio gave a speech. Photo: Dr.

In addition, the work of taking care of members after the merger also faced a lot of pressure. Some Associations had the number of members doubled or tripled, while the task of training and supporting professional skills still had to maintain quality. From there, traditional activities such as professional activities, organizing press awards, supervising professional ethics, etc. all had to be adjusted to the new scale.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Giang, Vice President of the Thai Nguyen Provincial Journalists Association, said: "The most difficult thing is not to merge the apparatus, but to reconcile the differences in working methods of the two old associations. Each place has its own traditions, ways of doing things and organizational culture. It took us nearly a year to rebuild the coordination mechanism and create unity in action. When the apparatus operates smoothly, the Association's activities will be truly effective."

Through opinions, it is shown that merger and consolidation is an inevitable but challenging process. However, in general, this is also an opportunity for the Association to restructure more strongly, more streamlined and more effectively, if implemented in the right direction and with synchronous solutions.

Building a strong, modern and humane Vietnamese revolutionary press

Representative of Ho Chi Minh City Television presented. Photo: TS

In the context of the 4.0 industrial revolution and the explosion of digital information, the role of Journalists Associations is becoming increasingly important. Not only are they political, social and professional organizations, the Associations are also a support for journalists in training professional ethics, protecting legitimate practice rights and promoting journalistic creativity.

In response to that request, many delegates at the conference emphasized the need to continue standardizing the activities of the Association at all levels, focusing on improving the capacity of association staff, increasing the application of digital technology and expanding new professional support models.

Mr. Le Van Hau, Chairman of the Ben Tre Provincial Journalists Association, said: "To improve the effectiveness of press activities, first of all, the Association at all levels must be strong in expertise, streamlined in structure and flexible in organization methods. It is impossible to support members well if the Association itself does not transform digitally, does not innovate in training, and does not update new media trends. We clearly identify the core task of enhancing the training of multimedia journalism skills, while at the same time building a healthy, disciplined and humane professional environment."

Delegates present their speeches. Photo: Dr.

Sharing the same view, many delegates proposed to strengthen the connection of activities between Associations in the region, share experiences in handling fake news and toxic information; coordinate training of young reporters and replicate provincial journalism award models in a professional and quality direction...

In his concluding remarks at the Conference, Comrade Nguyen Duc Loi, Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association, emphasized that in the context of the country's press facing many great opportunities and challenges, the role of the Association must be demonstrated more clearly, more deeply, and more closely to the life of journalism. "The Association at all levels needs to continue to innovate its methods of operation, but innovation must be substantive, avoiding formality. Each Association at all levels must closely follow the political tasks of the locality and unit, and proactively forecast new issues arising in press activities. When the apparatus is reorganized in a streamlined direction, the role of gathering, uniting, and supporting members must be given top priority. This is an irreplaceable responsibility of the Association's organizations," Comrade Nguyen Duc Loi emphasized.

Comrade Nguyen Duc Loi also noted that the training of journalism in the coming time must be implemented with a new approach. We cannot maintain the traditional training method when the press is changing every day. The Association at all levels needs to proactively connect, invite domestic and international experts, expand online training courses, and update content related to digital transformation, multi-platform content production skills, information security, and media crisis handling. The quality of reporters will only improve when training activities are systematic and in-depth.

In particular, the Permanent Vice President of the Vietnam Journalists Association emphasized the task of protecting the legitimate rights of journalists to practice their profession: The Association must be a reliable support for its members. Whenever there is an incident related to journalism, the Association at all levels must promptly speak up and coordinate with the authorities to protect the legitimate rights of journalists.

At the same time, we must also resolutely fight against negative manifestations in professional activities, strictly handle violations of press ethics to maintain the prestige of the team. For the Association to be truly strong, to truly be the home of journalists, the most important thing is to maintain the spirit of solidarity, professionalism and responsibility. Only when each level of the Association plays its role well can we build a solid, modern and humane Vietnamese revolutionary press in the new period.

This national conference of the Vietnam Journalists Association has created an open, frank and responsible forum to listen to voices from the grassroots to the central level. The difficulties in merging and consolidating the Association are not only challenges of a locality but also a common problem of the whole system.

However, with the spirit of innovation, unity and determination, the Journalists Association at all levels will turn challenges into opportunities, bringing journalism and the Association's activities to develop more strongly and sustainably. Thereby contributing to maintaining political will, fostering professional ethics, improving the quality of journalism and building a team of journalists who are increasingly professional, responsible and humane, meeting the requirements of the revolution in the new period.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/doi-moi-manh-me-xay-dung-nen-bao-chi-chuyen-nghiep-nhan-van-hien-dai-724148.html